It does not derive its authority from the commands, will, pleasure, or discretion of any possible combination of men, whether calling themselves a government, or by any other name.
Lysander Spooner: “It does not derive its authority from the commands, will, pleasure, or discretion of any possible combination of men…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that the authority of justice is inherent and not granted by any government.
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And yet these reasons, which are really no reasons at all, are the only ones, so far as I know, that have ever been offered for this absurd and brutal doctrine.
The answer is, that they are as reliable for that purpose as are the majority; they are as much presumed to have associated, and are as likely to have associated, for that object, as are the majority; and they have as much interest in such…
From the sale of that justice which every citizen has a right to demand, it was an easy transition to withhold or deny it.
They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.